World Politics

Vin Weber, senior Romney adviser, under fire for controversial Ukraine lobbying

Former Minnesota Congressman Vin Weber has had quite the career as a "revolving-door" D.C. lobbyist. But as one of Mitt Romney senior foreign-policy advisers, he's now under scrutiny for being a registered lobbyist for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine.The ECFMU was founded in January by a se ... More >>

Brian Johnson, Pride Fest Bible hander-outer, files federal lawsuit over "no pride zone" policy [UPDATE]

A dispute that has been ongoing for years recently escalated: Notorious Bible hander-outer Brian Johnson filed a federal lawsuit against the Minneapolis Park Board, alleging that his constitutional rights are violated by the Twin Cities Pride Festival's "no pride zone" policy. That policy, endorsed ... More >>

Rick Santorum glitterbombed in Blaine [VIDEO]

​The streets of Minnesota are running rainbow with glitter! In the waning hours before Tuesday night's caucus, the glitterati struck one last time at a Rick Santorum event in Blaine, showering the famously anti-gay former senator in sparkles. "I think he just felt the rainbow," glitterbomb inve ... More >>

MNGOP leadership throws support behind Romney

​Minnesota's Republican vanguard is throwing its weight behind Mitt Romney's bid to be the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.Later today, House Speaker Kurt Zellers and House Majority Leader Matt Dean will reportedly headline a list of Romney's legislative backers. Last week's polling indicates ... More >>

Luverne Pizza Ranch hosts Santorum tonight

Santorum coming out of his jacket​Rick Santorum is coming to Minnesota tonight, which makes him the first presidential candidate to campaign in the state this year. Santorum's visit follows Ron Paul's recent television push in the state, as Paul has begun airing campaign ads for the Minnesota ... More >>

Was Michele Bachmann treated differently because she's batshit crazy? [VIDEO]

​Was Michele Bachmann treated differently from other candidates because she's batshit crazy? That's the provocative question asked in a video by The Onion today.Michele Bachmann was the only woman in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, as well as the only lunatic, which has led some to q ... More >>

Vikings stadium won't get a special session

This stadium will have to wait until the legislature's New Year's hangover wears off.​The Minnesota Vikings are, putting it kindly, not a very special football team right now. Fittingly, the team won't get a special session from the legislature to rule on its new stadium(s?), and will have to wait ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's five most regrettable expenses

​Michele Bachmann's campaign is fading fast. If you squint, it disappears completely.That's partly because Bachmann's poll numbers have moved from the basement to the underground bunker. And it doesn't help that her staffers are beginning to pack up and move away for greener, saner pastures. But, ... More >>

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he'll release Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, magnanimous bastard, says he'll release the two Americans.​Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the slithering president of Iran, has made a promise to America -- and one of its most devoted mothers.Ahmaedinejad told the Washington Post he'll release Minnesota native Shane Bauer and Josh Fatt ... More >>

Bachmann warns Obama to fear the Tea Party, who are not all toothless hillbillies

Michele, prepared to lead her red, white and blue hillbillies into battle.​Michele Bachmann has issued a warning to Barack Obama and the Democrats that they should "be afraid of the Tea Party."Bachmann, the self-anointed queen of the Tea Party, said the Democrats have the wrong idea about the grou ... More >>

Bachmann surges into second place

​Michele Bachmann left Tim Pawlenty in the dust in the wake of the New Hampshire Republican debate on Monday, not among Republicans in the Granite State, but also nationally, if you believe the polls. She's vaulted into second place behind Mitt Romney in both cases.

Wisconsin Republicans' fake Democrats exposed

Gov. Scott Walker's allies get caught in a dirty trick.​A number of Wisconsin Republicans are still trying to figure out how to survive the PR debacle birthed by their public employee union busting legislation earlier this year. One of the upshots is a series of recall drives being launched agains ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann will debate in New Hampshire

So friendly looking.​Will he call her a "pain in the ass" and threaten to "rip her lungs out" in person? Will she remember to look into the right camera and get her Revolutionary War history straight? Those questions and more may be answered when Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty show up fo ... More >>

Most Wisconsin voters don't believe Gov. Scott Walker's union talk

Walker's even lost the zombie vote.​He's a hero to tea partiers, but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker keeps getting bad news from statewide polls. The latest survey finds that just 31 percent of folks in Wisconsin have apparently bought into his line that he wants to strip public employees of thei ... More >>

Katherine Windels ordered to stop threatening Wisconsin Republicans

Katherine Windels got carried away.​There's no doubt that pro- and anti-union forces used almost every trick in the book during the assembly battle over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's bill to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights. But while there was a lot of shouting, scre ... More >>

Kathy Nickolaus refuses to resign over Wisconsin election screw up

Kathy Nickolaus admits she screwed up, but says she won't resign.​Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus appears to have been exposed as either a ham-fisted political hack, or simply incompetent. Or maybe it's both. But just because she flipped a much-watched Wisconsin Supreme Court election i ... More >>

Scott Walker tanking in another Wisconsin poll [UPDATE]

Scott Walker is falling in the polls.​There's more bad poll news for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who insists he's going to stand firm in his budget battle to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights. Rasmussen Reports is out with a new survey of Wisconsin voters showing that ... More >>

Scott Walker called to the border by 14 Wisconsin Democrats [UPDATE]

Mark RiechersIt's not dead yet.​Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been invited to the Illinois state line for a face-to-face meeting with some of the 14 Democratic state senators who won't give Republicans the quorum needed to pass their union-busting bill. A showdown now that Walker's tanking in t ... More >>

Pawlenty will run for president or get off the pot in two weeks [UPDATE]

It's make-your-mind-up time.​Tim Pawlenty says he will decide once and for all in the next two or three weeks whether he'll make a 2012 run for the White House. After three epic campaign commercials, a national book tour, frequent-flyer excursions to New Hampshire and Iowa, and incessant sucking ... More >>

Surly asks fans for help changing laws

Surly asks for help to get dream brewery approval​When Surly Brewing Company announced plans for a new $20-million brewery complex last week the Twin Cities beer world exploded with excitement. This wasn't going to be just any brewery; this was going to be a "destination brewery" complete with ... More >>

Tom Emmer concedes governor's race to Mark Dayton [UPDATE]

Tom Emmer says it's time to move on.​Given the steady drip, drip, drip of his failed ballot challenges and dead-end legal maneuvers since Election Day, it almost seems anticlimactic that Republican Tom Emmer has finally concluded that his race for governor is lost. A lot of GOP insiders, and ... More >>

Did Fox News just call Tim Pawlenty a wimp?

Fox News thinks Tim Pawlenty is small fry.​Fox News news is up with a feature called "12 in 2012," a kind of working list made up of potential Republican challengers to President Barack Obama in the next general election. The good news for Tim Pawlenty is that he made the list. The bad news i ... More >>

Michael Steele set to embarrass MN GOP in secret

GOP.comMichael Steele is in the heezy.​Michael Steele, the chairman of the National Republican Party famous for perpetually having a mouthful of his own foot, is rallying the faithful in Minneapolis this afternoon.The fund-raising lunch, being held at the Hilton at noon, is being hosted by the Ele ... More >>

Asylum Denied

Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum

Slug endorses Matt Entenza for governor

The Matt Entenza gubernatorial campaign has been full of WTF moments. Remember, this is the guy who picked a FOX 9 news anchor/jewelry entrepreneur to be his running mate. Then there was that false report that the Minnesota faction of the National Organization for Women endorsed Entenza over Marga ... More >>

Jesse Ventura wants high schoolers force fed Hugo Chavez flick [Video]

Anti-Chavez news coverage in the U.S. is a conspiracy, Ventura says​Oliver Stone and Jesse Ventura tag teamed for a smackdown against stunned Florida GOP congressman Connie Mack last night on last Larry King Live. The topic: "South of the Border," Stone's new documentary about Venezuelan leade ... More >>

Badlands

From Ground Zero of the Immigration Crisis Along the Mexican Border

Al Franken's lightening up, Washington Post says; doggone it senators like him better

Fits of pique reinforced Franken's image as a champion of the liberal left, but now he plays squash with Republicans.

Pawlenty keeps pitching right, headlines anti-abortion gala

The governor recently told Newsweek that it might be hard to be a presidential candidate in 2012 because nobody knows who he is.

Bachmann on PolitiFact's 'Lie of the year' list for Hannity quote

The GOP congresswoman is a nominee for a reality-challenged rant on Sean Hannity's Fox News show.

Ellison in Sudan to discuss relief effort and peace plans

Rep. Keith Ellison will be in Sudan this week meeting with officials to discuss the ongoing humanitarian situation in Darfur and plans for the implementation of a peace agreement.

Klobuchar asks UN to help free U.S. journalist in Iran

Roxana Saberi grew up in Fargo and graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead. She hasn't been heard from since Feb. 10 when she called her father in Fargo to tell him she was detained in Iran.

Slow Food Nation's new blog

Pawlenty flip-flops on Cuba just in time to cozy up to McCain

Is Gov. Tim Pawlenty's change of heart politically motivated?

Iraq: Secret UK memo says US weighing troop drawdown

6/14: Morning Communique

Quixotic Prexy

Before the Campus Burned

On the eve of the U of M's hockey championship, Castro came calling

The Bosom of Abraham

Ethiopian Jews return to the Promised Land at the Mixed Blood; Leopold and Loeb kill again at the Actors Theater of Minnesota

Heading South

Drawn Out

No Place to Hide

Plastics-related toxic chemicals are finding their way into everything--including baby milk

Rumer Godden: Cromartie V. The God Shiva Acting Through The Government of India

The Israel Exception

October Surprises

Foreign Affairs

Bill Clinton's Indonesian connection brought him campaign cash in exchange for influence--and continued inaction on the country's notorious human rights abuses.

Atun Alba:

Cocaine, Tuna, and Free Trade

A Stake through the Heart of Three Gorges:

A Global Win for Greens

Naftashock

The Giant Sucking Sound Revisited